After a nearly snow-less January that featured a couple of powerful thaws, winter returned to Vermont on Friday. Schools across the region were closed for the day, and roads were treacherous in spots. Above, Reed Browning, 14, enjoys fresh powder at Sugarbush’s Mount Ellen on Friday after the Montpelier school system declared a snow day. Left, Gretchen Stern pulls her son, Emmett, 2, along a snowy sidewalk on Liberty Street in Montpelier on Friday morning. Below, Isabel Preston, left, 7, and Aaliyah Preston, 10, of Barre Town, shovel the walk outside their father’s home Friday.